Digest year-ender for domestic stories for month of September, 2018

Digest year-ender for domestic stories for month of September, 2018

Press Trust of India

Sept 1: New Delhi: Jain monk Tarun Maharaj died in the early hours Saturday at east Delhi's Radhapuri Jain Temple. He was 51.

Sept 2: Srinagar: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Sunday reviewed the security situation in Kashmir during a visit to the valley, and army officials briefed her on the operational preparedness and counter-infiltration grid.

Sept 3: New Delhi: Over 1,400 people, including 488 in Kerala, have lost their lives due to rains, floods and landslides in 10 states so far in the monsoon season, the Home Ministry said Monday.

Sept 4: New Delhi: Putting to rest all speculation, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra Tuesday recommended to the Centre that Justice Ranjan Gogoi be his successor, eight months after he was part of a revolt against the country's top judge.

Sept 5: New Delhi: Thousands of farmers and labourers from across the country held a massive protest in the national capital on Wednesday against what they called "anti-people" policies of the Modi government, and demanded higher prices for farm produce, waiver of loans and better wages.

Sept 6: New Delhi: Consensual gay sex is not a crime, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday, striking down a British era law that it said violates the right to equality and triggering celebrations among LGBTQ activists who welcomed it as a harbinger of a more inclusive India.

Sept 7: New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday pitched for investments in manufacturing of electric vehicles and smart charging facilities as he emphasised that better mobility can boost growth.

Sept 8: Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government has constituted a high-level committee to probe into irregularities in the recruitment examination held for 68,500 assistant teachers and suspended a top official of exam regulatory authority, officials said Saturday.

Sept 9: New Delhi: Setting the tone for the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Sunday he sees "no challenge" to the BJP and described unity efforts among opposition parties "unable to stand each other" as a proof of his government's popularity and his party's big success.

Sept 10: New Delhi: Sporadic incidents of violence were reported Monday during a Congress-led opposition sponsored 'Bharat Bandh' against spiralling fuel prices that disrupted normal life mainly in Bihar, Kerala, Karnataka, Assam and Odisha.

Sept 11: New Delhi: An ED investigation has found that absconding jeweller Mehul Choksi diverted over Rs 3,250 crore funds, allegedly defrauded from a PNB branch in Mumbai, to foreign shores and he was in business of "highly inflating" prices of precious metals sold from his outlets.

Sept 12: New Delhi: Notwithstanding the boycott announced by the National Conference (NC) and the PDP, the Centre is likely to go ahead with the panchayat and urban local bodies elections in Jammu and Kashmir as it feels that grassroots democracy must get precedence over any other consideration, officials said Wednesday.

Sept 13: New Delhi: The negotiations for procurement of 126 Rafale jets under the UPA government fell through as state-run HAL did not have the required capability to produce the jets in India in collaboration with French company Dassault Aviation, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Thursday.

Sept 14: Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh government has closed the investigation into a disproportionate assets complaint filed against BJP leader and former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal in 2015, on the recommendation of the state vigilance and anti-corruption bureau, officials said. Sept 15: Srinagar: Urban local bodies elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be conducted in four phases starting October 8, state election commission has said.

Sept 16: Sriharikota (AP): The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) today launched the NovaSAR and S1-4 earth observation satellites of U.K from the spaceport here and placed them in the designated orbit.

Sept 17: Mumbai: Petrol price continued its upward spiral in the megapolis--where the fuel is the costliest among the major metros--with Monday's retail price pegged at Rs 89.44 a liter, up from 89.29 Sunday, and diesel selling at Rs 78.33, up 17 paise.

Sept 18: Jaipur: In a first, polling in all 200 constituencies in the upcoming Rajasthan assembly elections would be conducted through Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) and EVM M-3 machines, Chief Election Commissioner O P Rawat said Tuesday.

Sept 19: Gandhinagar: The Gujarat Assembly passed seven bills on the second and concluding day of the monsoon session Wednesday, including a bill raising salaries of the lawmakers.

Sept 20: Balasore (Odisha): India successfully test-fired its indigenously developed surface-to-surface short-range tactical ballistic missile 'Prahaar' from the Odisha coast Thursday amid heavy rains.

Sept 21: New Delhi: Barely 24 hours after agreeing to the engagement, the government Friday called off a meeting between the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan in New York, citing the brutal killings of three policemen in Jammu and Kashmir and Islamabad releasing postage stamps "glorifying" Kashmiri militant Burhan Wani.

Sept 22: New Delhi: As former French president Francois Hollande's claim on the Rafale deal fuelled a massive political row, the government Saturday asserted it did not have any role in the selection of Reliance Defence as a partner for Dassault while France said it was in "no manner" involved in the choice of any Indian industrial associate for the contract.

Sept 23: Ranchi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi rolled out the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY)-Ayushman Bharat from here Sunday, and termed it a "game-changer initiative to serve the poor".

Sept 24: Pakyong (Sikkim): Dedicating Sikkim's first airport at Pakyong to the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Monday his government is committed to make the Northeast an "engine of India's growth story" and lamented the "slow pace" of development work in the region under the previous governments.

Sept 25: New Delhi: Observing criminalisation of politics is a bitter manifest truth and a "termite" to the citadel of democracy, the Supreme Court Tuesday left it to Parliament to bar those facing trial for heinous and grievous offences from contesting elections by enacting a "strong law".

Sept 26: New Delhi: Observing that 'Aadhaar' neither tends to create a "surveillance state" nor it infringed the Right to Privacy, the Supreme Court Wednesday declared that the Centre's biometric identity project was constitutionally valid but limited the scope, ruling it is not mandatory for bank accounts, mobile connections or school admissions.

Sept 27: New Delhi: Adultery is no longer a crime in India, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday as it struck down the colonial-era law, dubbing it "archaic" and "unconstitutional" and saying it treated women as a "chattel" and denuded them of their "sexual autonomy".

Sept 28: Jodhpur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday inaugurated “Parakram Parv” exhibition at the military station here to mark the second anniversary of the surgical strikes carried out by the Indian Army across the LoC.

Sept 29: Chandigarh: Senior SAD leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa Saturday resigned as the party's secretary general and from its core committee, citing health reasons.

Sept 30: New Delhi: Subsidised cooking gas (LPG) price Sunday hiked by Rs 2.89 per cylinder to Rs 502.4 per cylinder.

(Source PTI)